1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the reorientation of objects moving on a conveying system and particularly to the transfer of books from a position where they are supported on their spines, i.e., in an upright or vertical orientation, to a position where they are supported on a side surface, such transfer being accomplished without interruption in forward movement. More specifically, this invention is directed to apparatus for altering the orientation of books or like products during movement thereof through a system and especially to apparatus for imparting 90.degree. of rotational motion to objects arriving serially on a conveying system, such rotation being imparted without interrupting the object motion. Accordingly, the general objects of the present invention are to provide novel and improved methods and apparatus of such character.
2. Description of the Prior Art
While not limited thereto in its utility, the present invention is particularly well-suited for use in the manufacture of books. During the manufacture of a book, partially completed or finished books will often be caused to move in serial fashion along a conveyor system while being supported on their spines. It will typically be necessary, in order to perform further manufacturing operations or for boxing, for the books to be transferred from the upright position, where they are supported on their spines, to a horizontal or flat position where they are lying on one of their sides. This reorientation must be done with a relatively high degree of speed, and without interrupting the motion of the conveying system, in order to insure sufficiently high production rates. The reorientation also imposes the contradictory requirement of gentle treatment of the books on the transfer apparatus. This 90.degree. reorientation of books moving on a conveying system has presented particularly difficult problems in the handling of heavy books of large format.
Published German Patent Application 29 43 260 discloses a prior art apparatus for transferring books from a vertical, upright position to a horizontal, lying position. The apparatus of the published application employs a pair of roller tracks which are located at right angles to one another. These roller tracks are provided with power-driven rollers, and each track is twisted about its longitudinal centerline in a helix-like configuration. Support rods are located so as to be parallel to the vertically upright rollers of the second track and are spaced from the second track. The support rods, in the region extending from the feed end of the roller track into the transition zone where the rollers depart from the vertical position and progress to the horizontal position, prevent the incoming books from opening during the reorientation process.
Apparatus of the type disclosed in German Application 29 43 260 cannot, particularly in the case of large format, heavy books, insure that the books being handled will be treated with the necessary gentleness. This lack of the requisite gentle treatment inherently results from the fact that, while the books are being transferred from the upright to the horizontal position, they are supported solely by one joint edge while traveling through a relatively long distance on the roller track. This edge support leads to deformation of the book.
A further disadvantage of the prior art, inherent in the apparatus of German Application 29 43 260, is that the transfer apparatus is volumetrically inefficient in that it requires considerable length and thus takes up a significant amount of floor space.